But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. With them, nothing was settled that was not right. a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nations bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic;for the love of God, tear away, and fling from you the hideous monster, andlet the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever! They did so in the form of a resolution; and as we seldom hit upon resolutions, drawn up in our day whose transparency is at all equal to this, it may refresh your minds and help my story if I read it. Frederick Douglass will be found by Americans. This 4th of July is yours, not mine. A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal! You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot and kill. And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. I am not included within the pales of this glorious anniversary. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. Frederick Douglass That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abrahams great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. 1883 Speech by Frederick Douglass - accessible-archives.com Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. Where these are, man is not sacred. Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? One of the parts of the speech that resonates with me the most is when Douglass says: What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight. The time for such argument is past. Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. I will use the severest language I can command. You may well cherish the memory of such men. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. My business, if I have any here today, is with the present. What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Frederick Douglass The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. If I do forget, if I do not remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, may my right hand forget her cunning and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer and advocate, abolitionist, orator, writer, minister, and statesman. You were under the British Crown. WebOn July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a keynote address at an Independence Day celebration and asked, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Douglass was a powerful There is blasphemy in the thought. They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny, and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke, put together, have done! The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. Such people lived then, had lived before, and will, probably, ever have a place on this planet; and their course, in respect to any great change, (no matter how great the good to be attained, or the wrong to be redressed by it), may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars. You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. It was fashionable, hundreds of years ago, for the children of Jacob to boast, we have Abraham to our father, when they had long lost Abrahams faith and spirit. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror. Frederick Douglass: (10:31) For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. In order to put an end to it, some of these last have consented that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country, and establish themselves on the western coast of Africa! He can bring no witnesses for himself. In the deep still darkness of midnight, I have been often aroused by the dead heavy footsteps, and the piteous cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. Frederick Douglass: (05:02) I have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. His death, according to Douglass was not only tragic, but also prevented recently freed slaves and African Americans from gaining the ear of wise and well-intentioned leader. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion. As noted here, that banquet was attended by prominent Frederick Douglass's, What To the Slave Is the Fourth of Is that a question for Republicans? Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. No! To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted Liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity. You could instruct me in regard to them. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. Without this right, the liberty of an American citizen would be as insecure as that of a Frenchman. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the lame man leap as an hart.. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! The document is in the form of a Google Docs so it has a translation tool, dictionary, and voice to text. Go search where you will. Sydney Smith tells us that men seldom eulogize the wisdom and virtues of their fathers, but to excuse some folly or wickedness of their own. The time for such argument is passed. Frederick Douglass: (06:44) Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one-half of this confederacy; and millions are pocketed every year, by dealers in this horrid traffic. What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Douglass views the monument and the day's ceremonies as reflecting honor upon African I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. It is a fact, that whatever makes for the wealth or for the reputation of Americans, and can be had cheap! Frederick Douglass: (06:03) What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Convert your audio or video into 99% accurate text by a professional. He is a bird for the sportsmans gun. Frederick Douglass speech - PBS If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Fellow-citizens! Roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slaves point of view. In a very telling sign, the fateful words of Frederick Douglass from a speech he delivered 170 years ago still resonate very much in 2022 as Black people in America continue the fight for the same kind of equality that the legendary abolitionist was demanding back in the mid-19th century. This celebration also marks the beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. I will not equivocate. Douglass gave this speech to a group of abolitionists 168 years ago. Speech The ear-piercing fife and the stirring drum unite their accents with the ascending peal of a thousand church bells. You have no right to enjoy a childs share in the labor of your fathers, unless your children are to be blest by your labors. Frederick Douglass: (03:37) There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. WebIn December 1860, the great American orator and former slave Frederick Douglass delivered one of his finest speeches, A Plea for Free Speech in Boston. In it, he boldly declared that liberty is meaningless where the right to utter ones thoughts and Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers yourUnion. The Bible addresses all such persons as scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe ofmint, anise,andcumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.. Like our content? They went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. Your President, your Secretary of State, ourlords,nobles, and ecclesiastics, enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your God, that you do this accursed thing. your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. The whole scene, as I look back to it, was simple, dignified and sublime. Fellow citizens, this murderous traffic is, today, in active operation in this boasted republic. Frederick Douglass Your broad republican domain is hunting ground formen. Frederick Douglass: (07:35) It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and its crimes against God and man must be denounced. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Frederick Douglass And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, lowering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin! The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. This certainly sounds large, and out of the common way, for it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence. What have I, or those I represent to do with your national independence. speech The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. How unlike the politicians of an hour! What was possible for him, he sincerely believed was possible for any man who was willing to work hard. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to Liberty, that he is the rightful owner of his body? They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. During At the time of the delivery of this speech, Douglass had been living in Rochester, New York for several years editing a weekly abolitionist newspaper. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. In the early 1850s, tensions over slavery were high across the county. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. Albert Barnes but uttered what the common sense of every man at all observant of the actual state of the case will receive as truth, when he declared that There is no power out of the church that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it.. Travel through South America. Americans! What? Frederick Douglass: (04:09) Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution. He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, Is it not astonishing that while we are plowing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metal of brass, iron, copper, silver, and gold, that while we are reading, writing, and ciphering acting as clerks, merchants, and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators, and teachers that we are engaged in all the enterprises, common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific feeding sheep and cattle on the hillside, living, moving, acting, thinking, planting, living in families as husbands, wives, and children, and above all confessing and worshiping the Christian God and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? To side with the right, against the wrong, with the weak against the strong, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! Frederick Douglass, Fifth of July speech (1852) Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man Speech | The Art of Manliness Fellows citizens, pardon me and allow me to ask, why am I called to speak here today? I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people! If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select. Many of you understand them better than I do. Make your content more accessible to people with disabilities. The text of Frederick Douglasss most famous speech, given in 1852, What, to a slave, is the Fourth of July? A chapter describing Douglasss early encounters with abolitionists, from his autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom, 1857. Cast one glance, if you please, upon that young mother, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun, her briny tears falling on the brow of the babe in her arms. And yet not one word shall escape me that any man whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice or who is not at heart, a slaveholder shall not confess to be right and just.
